troutbert wrote:Can we compete with them using flies at this time of year, when the water is cold? If so, what flies and techniques would be best?

You bet! And NOW is the time.

Realistically... can we expect to catch as many panfish in the sizes that bait guys get 'em? No - not often anyway. However, panfish can be caught in great numbers on the fly, esp in springtime. If crappies and perch in particular are your target, you want to be out chasing 'em in late March and April. This is when they are shallow.Big bluegills are still shallow thru May.

Unfortunately, too many FFers don't start thinking about panfish until summertime. By June, the crappies, perch, and larger bluegills in lakes are often too deep to target with fly gear. I was out for about an hour on Sunday at a local crappie spot I like. Got a strike on almost every cast and kept a half dozen for dinner. My favorite springtime crappie fly is an inch or so long, light weight streamer (emphasis on light, you want a slow sink rate) utilizing silver mylar with a touch of pink. Strikes are very subtle this time of year, a bobber type strike indicator really helps.Get out now! There's a shoreline brush pile at your local lake just waiting for you to nail some crappies.

There have been a few panfish threads lately, so there may be more info elsewhere in the WW forum.

In my (limited) springtime panfish experience. I'd go with small minnow patterns (cant beat a small bead-chain clouser) under a strike indicator. I'm sure any kind of buggy nypmh would do as well. Either way, I'd suggest a longer shanked hook as removal can be a pain.

The fly wont matter as much as finding the school of fish, though. Look for any kind of structure, and cover water. Youll know when you find them.

As Fishidiot said, now is the time! Out my way the water's still icy and they haven't moved shallow yet, but the crappie fishing this time of year can be amazing. Once you locate them it can be non stop action!

Fishidiot was spot on from my experience. I like small and more importantly lightweight jig type flies in white marabou or bunny with a little flash under a thingamabobber. The really slow fall of the jig seems to be what really entices more fish to bite.

Yes, yellow perch hit well in cold water. Very early spring (now) in Maryland yellow perch fishing during spawning runs is a big deal on the northeast river, the severn, and probably many others Chesapeake tidal rivers. Also the lower Susquehanna and other Chesapeake tidal rivers can get incredible runs of white perch in the spring which are very tasty, easy to catch, and grow to a decent size. The hard part about fishing for panfish is locating nice sized fish to keep.

If you do not mined fishing 20 plus feet of water perch bite is good through the ice. They are ready to spawn and will go shallow when temps warm. I almost never caught a perch through the ice except on the bottom in deeper water. Crappie will suspend in winter and can be caught anywhere in the water column.